Waffles, coconut waffles

Oh, what a dream these will be!  I'm making coconut waffles in the morning with a fresh fruit salad (pineapple, grapes, bananas, strawberries, kiwi and peaches).  Miam miam. 

I'm going to double the recipe and I will report back.

The next morning...

These were good!  I really liked them.  A couple people did not love the texture of having shredded coconut in the waffles, but I did and a couple others did too. 

I did not double the recipe as I only had one can of coconut milk in my pantry.  There were plenty to feed this family of six (may have made 20 waffles - 5 rounds of 4 in the waffle iron). 

When I opened up my can of coconut milk, it was a beautiful thick creamy texture usually highly coveted.  But this meant there wasn't much actual liquid in the can so I ended up adding almost a cup of milk (cow's) to get it the right consistency.

I used butter as the recipe called for but you could definitely use melted coconut oil; I'm all out.

These were sweet and crispy in the "wells" of the waffle.  I had to let my waffle iron go past the first warning beep that they were cooked to the second warning so they wouldn't be wet inside.  Go with your gut and watch the steam and when the steam stops pouring out, they're done.

Miam miam

Banana coconut pineapple (tofu) smoothie

Made one of my best smoothies for snack this afternoon, as rated by the Big Kid.  He loves smoothies and knows when one stands above the rest.

I made Healthy Lemon Squares (post to follow) this afternoon and instead of just making more of the filling, I ended up with some silken tofu left over.  I also had a can of coconut milk open in the fridge to use up.

Here's what I did.

Banana Coconut Pineapple smoothie (with tofu - but you don't have to tell your kids)
1 yellow banana
1 can (14oz) pineapple in chunks with juice
1/2 box Mori Nu silken tofu (red box, 240g) (approx)
1/3 can Thai Kitchen coconut milk (red label, 400ml) (approx)
3 Tbsp sugar
- dump all ingredients into blender and blend away
- serve as is or chilled.  If you are smart, you can use a frozen banana and it will be colder (you may cut up said banana and freeze it ready for smoothies or 1 ingredient ice cream, which I have not tried yet)

Photos to follow this evening, just had to tell you now while it's still hot out and you want a snack.

Coconut butter

I put my food processor to quite a test yesterday. 

I've been reading more blogs written by vegans and whole food and raw food eaters.   I hear about this coconut butter over and all the wonderful things you can do with it.  So, naturally, I wanted to try it.

The Ingredient

Now, normally you would have had coconut butter from a jar and then wanted more.  You go back to buy it and notice the price.  Then you say to yourself, "I can make this at home."  So you go home and try it.  It works and it's yummy. 

I didn't do it that way.  I read about other people loving a commercial coconut butter and I think to myself, "I can make this at home."  So I do.  I buy coconut and make coconut butter not knowing what I was aiming for or how good it can be.

Coconut before any whirring

My food processor whirred and whirred and whirred for 18 minutes straight (except for stopping to be scraped down).  Ho boy.

The results are granular, but I'm a chronic under baker and under processor so I'm not surprised nor disappointed.  Next time I'll let it go longer, I hope, so it can be creamy and irresistible.

Here is the recipe I followed to a "T".

Mine did not get as creamy as this one and not as liquidy as this one, but could have looked like this one with a bit more time.  Nonetheless, it is still delightful on toast (and a spoon).  I just microwave it for 30 seconds to soften it before I spread it.

On toast with real butter underneath and beside sunbutter.

Homemade Coconut Butter
from Oh She Glows
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut (1 little bag)
- process in a food processor for about 20 minutes until a butter forms, scraping the sides of the bowl as often. Makes approximately 1/2 cup coconut butter.

As a variation, you can take 1/4 cup of coconut butter and add 1 Tbsp carob powder or cocoa powder.  Mmm

1 minute mark

3 minutes

6 minutes

8 minutes

11 minutes

15 minutes

18 minutes of whirring later, I stopped here.

I do feel I stopped early.  I may have been able to achieve a real smooth and creamy spread had I kept going. 

I will make this again using a different brand of coconut just to try it and using the smaller bowl of my food processor.